A dangerous email scam
currently is circulating nationwide and targeting employers, including tax
exempt entities, universities and schools, government and private-sector
businesses. The scammer poses as an internal executive requesting employee
Forms W-2 and Social Security Number information from company payroll or human
resources departments. They may even send an initial “Hi, are you in today”
message before the request.
The IRS has established a
process that will allow employers and payroll service providers to quickly
report any data losses related to the W-2 scam. See details at Form
W-2/SSN Data Theft: Information for
Businesses and Payroll Service Providers. If notified in time, the IRS can
take steps to prevent employees from being victimized by identity thieves
filing fraudulent returns in their names. There also is information about how
to report receiving the scam email even if you did not fall victim.
As a reminder, tax professionals who experience
a data breach also should quickly report the incident to the IRS. Tax
professionals may contact their local stakeholder liaison.
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